Many people suffer from ailments or injuries which make it difficult for them to walk unaided. If the ailment or injury is sufficiently severe, the person may be confined to a wheelchair.
However, in many other instances, the person merely needs a walking aid. One such aid is a cane. Canes do not offer a great deal of stability, however, and they can be difficult to use.
A common walking aid that provides greater stability is the walker. Walkers generally comprise a frame or structure having two or more points of contact with the ground. The walker is designed to extend across the front of the user for engagement by both hands of the user. In this manner, the user is provided side-to-side stability. In addition, the user can lean down on the walker for support in standing. To allow a user to more easily move a walker with them, walkers are often supported by wheels. In such a configuration, a walker is commonly referred to as a “rollator”.
Sometimes a user of a walker needs to sit down to rest. This is relatively convenient if the user is close to a seating surface such as a chair in the home. However, a chair or the like may not be available, or the user may not have the strength to travel to the seat.
As one attempt to solve this problem, some walkers include a seating element. However, to provide support for the seat and/or make the walker usable when the user is not seated, the seats of such walkers all have very disadvantageous configurations. Most commonly, walkers which include seats have their seats located at the front of the walker facing rearwardly. When a user desires to switch between walking and sitting, this requires that the user attempt to turn around to sit down. When the user attempts to turn around, however, they lose the support of the walker. This often results in the user falling down and risking further injury, which is contrary to the original purpose of the walker for seating purposes.